


Midnight Confessions

by starsniper



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nygmobblepot, angst angst angst, one sideded gobblepot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-09 00:11:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5518214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starsniper/pseuds/starsniper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oswald and Ed have a heart to heart after it's all said and done. Takes place right after the end of 2x11</p>
            </blockquote>





	Midnight Confessions

It is almost 2am when Ed hears a familiar stomping noise in the hallway right outside his apartment. He isn't sure if he's excited or tense or both. Moments later, he hears the click of the lock and one bloodied (was that _his_ blood?) Oswald Cobblepot stumbles sloppily into his no longer quiet studio apartment. He's breathing heavily, but does not appear to be clutching any sort of wound. Ed is relieved but still stands to support the smaller man anyway.

"I wasn't sure you were going to return," Ed says, quickly moving to remove Oswald's blood stained coat, which comes off with no hassle. "I remember your associate mentioning that he had secured a safe house for you to resume operations...Oswald?"

The other man jumps at the mention of his name, and his expression immediately changes, as if snapping out of a trance. He gives Ed a smile that looks entirely too forced to be convincing.

"Sorry Ed. You're right, Gabe did secure me a safe house but your place was closer from the docks..." The docks? Was the docks where _it_ happened? Though he wants to pry more, Ed doesn't say anything, waiting for Oswald, who looks at a loss for words, to continue. There's a brief pause and a sigh before he speaks in an unsure tone.

"I just...it didn't feel right, you know?...Going-"

"-back to an empty home?" Ed supplies. Oswald's eyes widen and he looks away, purposely not meeting Ed's eyes. Another silence falls between them. When he absentmindedly runs his hand up and down his arm, Ed understands in that moment that Oswald is here because he's vulnerable. Something happened tonight, and Ed knows that he's the only one that Oswald can trust, _will_ trust in this state of mind. He moves quickly to hang up the fur lined coat and then quickly makes his way to the kitchen. He knows just what to do.

"Shall I make us some tea?" Ed asks, his voice light.

The small smile he earns from Oswald tells him he's made the right decision.

\---

"So what happened to Detective Gordon?" Ed asks once he's set the table for two and finished preparing their tea. Ed is not a blind man, he's seen the different ways Oswald and Gordon have interacted with one another. At the GCPD, it was like watching two wolves going head to head for the title of alpha, but at Ed's apartment, there were more, well, _personal_ feelings involved. Oswald's and Jim's association is the GCPD's worst kept secret, and Ed is only beginning to skim the surface of its complications.

Oswald shrugs. "Dunno...he insisted on _walking_ after it all happened." Ed looks up from his tea in confusion.

"Walking? But there's nothing near the docks, where could he has possibly-"

"I don't _know_ , Eddie, he wouldn't speak to me! He's probably going back to _that woman_ and proposing to her because of course, it's the right thing to do when someone says she's carrying your child!"

Ed pauses. Clearly Jim Gordon is a sore subject. He realizes that asking questions and getting irritable answers is not the way to go. Oswald is clearly on edge, and Ed needs to calm him down. So Ed takes a deep breath and places his hand over Oswald's, hoping the other man doesn't jerk away. He doesn't.

"Tell me about it," Ed says, voice as gentle and soothing as he can manage. "From the beginning. What happened after I left and sent everyone over here?"

It takes a few deep breaths and some deep gulps of tea before Oswald starts recounting the entire night in bits and pieces, backtracking more than once to fill in missing gaps. Ed only asks questions for clarification, absentmindedly rubbing his thumb over the back of Oswald's hand. He's happy that despite all the danger, his feathered friend has come back to him alive and uninjured.

What he's less than pleased about, however, is Detective Gordon's behavior towards the still mourning man. Ed had seen how dismissive the officer had been earlier in the day, but it appeared to have only gotten worse after Ed had left the two alone. Well "alone" if one didn't count Gabe, the overbearing bodyguard of Oswald's, who had initially deposited the detective at his door, and returned to his apartment not long after Jim had woken up.  Ed doubts the man would have served as an effective buffer between the two. It would have been like an island trying to calm a hurricane and a tornado all at once.

When Oswald finishes the whole tale, Ed thinks he finally understands what's been going on between the detective and his unintentional roommate. It's a scene all too familiar to Ed, who had to murder his way into Kristen Kringle's life before she would even spare him a glance. Oswald is nursing a broken heart. What Ed isn't sure of, however, is whether Oswald is even aware of his situation.

Ed is fairly certain that the next question he poses is going to cause some tension, and he debates not voicing it tonight, perhaps not _ever_ , but the sheer amount of emotional damage and pure _ache_ reflected in Oswald's eyes pushes him to do so anyway.

"You were in love with him, weren't you?" Ed asks, softly, gingerly. Oswald's eyes widen and narrow rapidly. Ed can almost hear the gears screeching inside the man's head as he processes what Ed has just said to him.

"In love with _who_ Ed?" Oswald practically growls at him.

"Don't play coy, Oswald, you and I both know who exactly who I'm talking about."

Anger is now reflected in those baby blue eyes. Oswald's eyes narrow and widen, pupils dilating rapidly. His hand jerks beneath Ed's, but to his surprise, the latter doesn't pull away. Instead, Ed instead  finds his own hand crushed beneath Oswald's in a startling display of strength that he is sure is fueled entirely by rage and indignation.

"What makes you think that I could possibly be in love with _Jim Gordon_ , of all people?" Oswald is standing now, and his voice is growing louder. "Think carefully before your answer Ed."

Ed bristles at the threat, but stands his ground. Denial. It's not an entirely unexpected reaction, given what he knows about the mobster. But Ed sees the fear hidden behind the anger, knows that his words are striking true in a deep, furtive corner of Oswald's mind. Their situation now is not unlike when the forensic scientist first brought the half dead man into his apartment. That night seems so long ago now. Back then, Ed had spoken another painful truth and Oswald had put a knife at his throat, only to come undone. He knew Oswald wouldn't hurt him then. He knows he won't hurt him now, as he stares up at the other man, gaze even.

"Detective Gordon saved your life. Let you live when it was time for you to die. After that, you saved him by clearing him of murder," Ed says. This much is common knowledge. From here on out, it is all speculation based on heresay at the GCPD and what he's seen with his own two eyes.

"It should have been over then, a life debt repaid, but it wasn't. You liked the idea that Jim Gordon couldn't be bought, it appealed to you, seeing a man so honest, but it frustrated you too, didn't it?" The slight tightening of Oswald's lips is all Ed needs to continue.

"You saw so much more potential for Detective Gordon than just being a regular honest police officer, you saw _yourself_ in him." Ed saw it too. Hell, most of the GCPD saw it. Jim Gordon was a man ruled by principle and honesty, but there was also a _darkness_ hiding behind those stoic eyes, something akin to Ed's darkness, but much more repressed than his had ever been. He could have been another Penguin had his life circumstances been any different.

"You've been trying to get him to see it, this whole time, haven't you? You wanted him to wake up and smell the coffee, you wanted Jim Gordon to _join_ you in taking over Gotham. But more than that, you wanted him to be your friend. But _he_ didn't want that, did he?" Ed rises from his sitting position, and now this time, it is him who grips Oswald. "No, he constantly shunned you, stuck strongly to his moral code, and that only made you want to try harder didn't it?"

Oswald is breathing harder now, and shaking. They both know where this is heading next. The smaller man opens his mouth to object, but Ed holds up his other hand and shakes his head. Oswald needs to hear what happens next.

"But then Jim let your mother's murderer go." Ed sees the way the words cut at Oswald like knives, hears the other man's knees start to shake against the table that separates them, and thinks maybe, just maybe he should stop there. He doesn't.

"Not only that, he protected him. Only arrested him when _someone else_ accused him of a crime. And then he almost didn't let you get your revenge. Galavan put you through hell and Jim Gordon didn't care." Oswald's knees give in at this point and Ed  quickly maneuvers around the table to catch the mobster before he collapses on the floor. He can see that he's once again torn Oswald Cobblepot wide open, but Ed feels a clenching feeling in his gut as well. He honestly hates seeing his friend this way.

"Now tell me, honestly, Oswald, if what you're feeling right now isn't heartbreak," Ed says as carefully as he can possibly manage. When he's sure the other man won't fall over, he slowly leads him towards the bed so that they can have a more intimate conversation.

"Jim has chosen not one, but two women over you, chosen Galavan over you, chosen _Gotham_ over you. That's how you convinced him to help you right? For the good of Gotham, the good of Dr. Thompkins, for Bruce Wayne, but _never_ , never for you."  Ed looks straight into Oswald's eyes, and he wonders if the other understands that Ed is so desperately trying to say _I see you Oswald_ without saying as much out loud. It doesn't take long before the smaller man breaks their eye contact and begins to sob quietly into Ed's sweater. The bespectacled man knows that he'll have to get it dry cleaned in the morning, but he doesn't care. Not much matters to him other than the sobbing man in his arms.

Oswald makes a few half hearted attempts to speak, by Ed only shushes him quietly, saying that he understands what the other is trying to say. When he's certain that the gangster has cried himself out to exhaustion, Ed gently nudges him towards the shower. Oswald doesn't put up a fight and aimlessly wanders inside after Ed hands him a towel.

It's almost 45 minutes before the bathroom door opens again, unleashing a torrent of steam into the rest of the apartment. Oswald looks refreshed, and perhaps just a little less melancholy than before.

"I hope you weren't planning on showering tonight, Eddie," Oswald says in a teasing tone. "You may or may not have hot water left." Ed smiles, happy that his feathered friend is in better spirits.

"The comforts of a hot shower are a small price to pay to see a friend happy, Ozzie." It takes a moment before he realizes that he's addressed Oswald Cobblepot in an incredibly intimate manner and he quickly tries to stutter out an apology.

"Apologies, Mr. Cobblepot, I didn't mean to be so informal towards-" but Oswald cuts him off.

"No, it's quite all right, Eddie. I, uhm, don't mind at all. Is Eddie all right with you?"

"Of course!" Ed hadn't even realized that Oswald, _Ozzie_ had started the whole nickname thing in the first place. There's a warm feeling pooling in his stomach that Ed realizes he hasn't felt since the first time Miss Kringle had spoken to him in anything other than a condescending manner. He's not entirely sure what that means, or why he feels this way, but Ed quickly decides that now is not the time for him to analyze his own feelings. His friend has a broken heart that still needs nurturing.

"Well then, shall we get ready for bed? Or did you want to, err, converse further?" Ed really isn't sure where to go from here. Oswald wrinkles his nose and shakes his head.

"No, I think I'm done talking about Jim. If I never have to deal with him again, I think I'd be just fine with that." Ed knows Oswald doesn't mean that, but he knows arguing won't solve anything at this moment so he just nods and moves to vacate the bed so that Oswald can sleep. He's surprised when Oswald moves to block him.

"Eddie." Oswald says his name so intimately that Ed almost forgets to breathe.

"Yes?"

"Stay. Please."

Ed realizes that he'll never be able to say no to those striking baby blue eyes.

"Of course."

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Nygmobblepotmas! =^_^=
> 
> I'm not sure I really like the title I came up with for this work, so if anyone has any better suggestions, please feel free to comment or PM me.


End file.
